Robert Creo Robert A. Creo Arbitrator & Mediator

Case Summaries

Lindsay v. Lewandowski, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 82 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006) (agreement for “binding mediation” unenforceable for failure to define and agree on the terms of the mediation or arbitration processes)

Avista Management, Inc. v. Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company, Case No. 6:05-cv-1430-Orl-31JGG (judge ordered two lawyers to meet for a game of "paper, rock, scissors" and the winner of this engagement was entitled to select the location for a deposition to be held)

Pennsylvania Case Summaries
Aetna Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2005 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 465 (October 27, 2005) (holding that 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5949 and the confidentiality terms of the agreement to mediate do not prevent the court from considering what was not discussed regarding a potential claim that "would accrue only after a settlement payment was made" in a post-mediation settlement dispute over whether the scope of settlement included a release of a claim involving a subsidiary of one of the parties);

Bishop v. Piller, 399 Pa. Super. 52, 581 A.2d 670, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3214 (1990), affirmed by 536 Pa. 41, 637 A.2d 976, 1994 Pa. LEXIS 39 (1994)(23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5311 et seq. provides three instances in which the court should consider visitation for grandparents: (1) when one parent has died; (2) when the parents are separated for six months or more; (3) when the child has lived with the grandparents for a year or more, and in each instance, the statute explicitly states that visits must be in the best interest of the child);

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3rd Circuit Case Summaries
Alexander v. Alexander, 341 F.3d 256; 2003 U.S. App. Lexis 17016; 20 L.E.R. Cas (BNA) 466, (3^rd Cir. 2003)(arbitration agreement terms were unseverable and unconscionable on both procedural and substantive grounds due to restrictions on relief, loser pays, time limitations and employees had no opportunity to negotiate its terms);

ACandS, Inc. v. Aon Risk Servs, 2004 WL 2601035, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23090 (E.D. Pa., 2004) (granted the motion seeking to exclude certain evidence related to mediation);

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Confidentiality Case Summaries

Joseph Macaluso, Inc., the District Court for D.C. quashed a subpoena for private labor mediators holding that public policy and the parties’ reliance on confidentiality of the process required a protective order.

Olam v. Congress Mortgage Co., 1999 WL 909731, 68 F. Supp. 2d 1110, (N.D. Cal. 1999). Olam disavowed the agreement reached in mediation session, which extended into the late night. She claimed that she was physically, intellectually and emotionally incapable of giving consent and noted a prior illness. Magistrate Judge Wayne Brazil held that the best evidence of her capacity was from the mediator, so when both parties waived their confidentiality rights, Judge Brazil ordered the mediator to testify in a sealed proceeding.

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Cases by Jurisdiction
Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, 532 U.S. 105 (2001) (employment discrimination claims subject to arbitration);

Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 39 L. Ed. 2d 347, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1974 U.S. LEXIS 104 (1974) (held that a criminal defendant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses trumped the Alaska statute blocking impeachment of a witness based upon confidential juvenile records);

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